This invention relates to electronically transmitting a digital image over a channel to a central receiving agency, which causes a hardcopy of the image to be delivered to the locations of different recipients.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,215 discloses a method for viewing photographic images on a personal computer and enabling a user or consumer to select images for initial printing, reprinting and ordering related image products.
Photographic negatives often are provided to a scanner to obtain image data. The image data is manipulated to provide a positive image in the case of the photographic negatives and sent to the user""s personal computer. The desired images are then selected and order information is provided, based on the positive image as displayed on the display of the personal computer. The order information is recorded to permit the desired prints and services to be created and the resulting order is sent to the location. The following can also be used as sources of images to be selected for prints and other services; image files stored in digital format on floppy disks, Picture CDs, Photo CDs, CD-ROMs, down loaded from the Internet, and negatives and prints scanned using a scanner and displayed on a personal computer""s display.
The above cited patent and patent applications describe methods and systems by which a user or consumer can create or receive digital files of their images. Also described are how user or consumers can send these image files to a central receiving agency with authorization for these image files to be printed and various types of hardcopy products to be created.
These same user or consumers frequently use their personal computers to send images attached to e-mail messages to friends and relatives that also own personal computers that are connected to electronic communications systems such as the Internet. The problem is a majority of the people in the world does not own or have access to personal computers or have ready access to the Internet. Therefore they do not have the capability to receiver images electronically from friends and relatives who do. In some cases where user or consumers have Internet access at their place of employment they do not have the ability to print a color high quality image from the image file they receive.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an expeditious way of delivering printed images to recipients at one or more different locations.
It is a further object that the printed images can have text or graphic information.
These objects are achieved by a method of delivering printed images to a recipient, comprising the steps of:
a) electronically transmitting digital images and image locator information from a location remote from and over a communication channel to a central receiving agency which stores such images and locator information in memory;
b) identifying a particular stored image in the memory using the corresponding image locator information and the location of one or more recipients and printing locations corresponding to each of the recipients;
c) transmitting the identified particular stored image in the memory to the printing location of each of the recipients; and
d) printing the image at the printing location of each of the recipients and delivering the printed image to the location corresponding to each of the recipients.
It is a feature of the present invention that images and text can be conveniently printed at remote printing locations where they can be delivered to desired recipients such as by mail or courier service. The user(s) or a third party such as an sponsor can conveniently be charged for the printing and delivery of the printed image to each of the recipients.